A meal fit for a king
by Tourmaline20
Summary: Merlin has a completely different reaction to eating the rat in the episode Labyrinth of Gedref, and it changes Arthur's perceptions even more drastically.


Not so bad

Merlin has completely different reaction to eating the rat in _The Labyrinth of Gedref_ then he does in the episode. Stuff in italics is from episode itself.

_Merlin grinned and said, "You have to eat, you won't be able to help anyone if you're too weak to pass the test." Merlin put the tray down and walked away as Arthur dug in._

_After the first bite Arthur asked, "what kind of Meat is this? It has a very strange texture."_

"_It's Pork." Merlin lied._

_Arthur shook his head saying, "This isn't pork. It's far too stringy. What is this? It's rat isn't it?" he asked in a regretful realization._

_Merlin nodded, "try not the think about it."_

_Arthur took a long drink and said, "Look at me, I'm being rude. Here I am stuffjng my face with this delicious stew, when you're hungry to. Come on take a seat."_

Merlin shrugged nonchalantly, walked over and sat in the chair then started to eat. Merlin took several mouthfuls and swallowed saying, "It's quite good."

Arthur blinked in surprise to see that Merlin was not lying, he had no genuine objection to eating a rat stew. Merlin noticed the look of utter disbelief on Arthur's face and smiled as he put down the spoon, "really _your highness"_ as usual Merlin spoke the title in a mocking tone as he continued, "Do you think I would turn my nose up at food."

Arthur blinked in shock, he couldn't believe that Merlin would so willingly eat a rat with no complaint given how loudly and frequently he complained about everything. Arthur had (quite obviously) given Merlin the food to see the other young man uncomfortable in eating it, but Merlin was simply enjoying the meal.

Merlin smirked knowingly and said, in a somewhat condescending voice, "Arthur you're forgetting that I am the bastard son of a peasant who grew up in a small village in the middle of nowhere. You know that King Cenred has never cared about the outlying villages, he never supported us through harsh winters or bad draughts. This isn't the first time in my life I've ever eaten rat."

Arthur spluttered, "What?"

Merlin spoke around another mouthful of stew, "Yes, this." He pointed at the stew, "Was a common dish for me and my mother during hard winters, a few times we even had to go scrounging under rocks for maggots and things like that."

Arthur pulled a face and went slightly green at the idea of eating bugs, eating a rat was repulsive enough to him, but eating an insect. Arthur couldn't imagine ever being _that_ hungry. Merlin seemed to sense his thoughts and said, "A lot of people think they would never willingly eat rat, or bugs, or other things like that, but it's easy to say when you've grown up your whole life never having to worry about getting enough to eat. It's easy to turn your nose up when you've got a full belly, or when you only have to go a short while without food. It's quite another to do so when you have to face the prospect of going hungry a entire season, or when it's been three full days since your last meal."

Arthur felt his face drop at this, he had known that Merlin's upbringing had been very different from his own, he knew the peasants and the poor often suffered from lack of food and such, but he had never really realized how bad it truly was for them. Arthur looked at the stew and couldn't help thinking how often he'd thrown food in a peak of temper, or walked away from a good meal because he was arguing with his father or Morgana (or simply upset about something). Arthur knew food that was disguarded at the royal table usually went to feed the palace hunting hounds, but surely there was a better option. Arthur found himself wondering how many hungry children his scraps and left-overs would have fed, and how truly selfish of him it was not to have thought about it before.

As Merlin continued polishing off the stew he said, "I learned a lot of important things from my mother, and one lesson she hammered home to me was never turn your nose up at food, no matter what form it takes. You may not like the idea of eating certain things, but you have to give your body what it needs to keep going. It's something I remember to this day."

Arthur swallowed in regret feeling even worse for offering Merlin the food only out of some twisted sense of teasing the other young man and not out of genuine concern for Merlin having gone without food. Arthur asked, "What's the longest you ever had to go without food?"

Merlin took another drink of water and said, "I think about a week."

Arthur baulked, "A week?" he knew he sounded completely incredulous, but he didn't care. Arthur often teased and complained about how weak Merlin was. The other young man was constantly hiding or running to the sidelines during battle (true, the biggest reason was probably because Merlin had no armor or sword, but still he never stayed around in a fight) and Arthur couldn't imagine Merlin having the strength to keep going for a week without any food of any kind.

Merlin nodded, "Yes, there was a really bad draught when I was about 9, a lot of people in our village died from lack of food and proper water. My mother did the best she could, but without water even the rats and bugs had become scarce. Still, we weren't completely without resources. My mother had a few tricks she used to help stave it off, you know if you eat dried grain or seeds then drink water, it swells in your stomach and holds off hunger pains. It's not the best thing to do for a long period of time obviously, but it works when you're desperate. Anyway, that summer the draught was just awful and we lost a lot of our usual (and unusual) sources of food. My Mother gave me as much as she could, but eventually we were going off of almost nothing. WE were lucky to have maybe one meal a day during that summer, and it was usually something meager like roots, pine cones, or (if we were really lucky) a lizard or a rat."

Merlin finished the last of the stew and the water and stood saying, "Thanks, it was good."

Arthur blinked in shock, still staring at Merlin in complete disbelief, then he shook himself and said, "You're welcome."

Merlin cleared the plate and turned to leave, as he opened the door Arthur called, "Merlin."

Merlin turned, Arthur swallowed uncomfortably as he fought his sense of class. It wasn't common (or easy) for Arthur to do what he was about to do, and he knew full well Merlin would never let him hear the bloody end of it, but at the same time he knew it was necessary. Arthur swallowed against the dread swirling slightly in his stomach, he gritted his teeth and thought, '_oh for goodness sake, just get it over with quickly'_ Merlin, for his part, continued to just stare curiously at the prince waiting for what Arthur needed. Finally, Arthur forced himself to say it, "I'm sorry."

Merlin's face took on a look of complete and utter shock, his jaw practically hit the floor, after a moment he said, "Wow, I didn't think you even knew those words."

Arthur gave a weak smile, "Yes, well I suggest you mark the occasion, because I promise you it probably won't happen again."

Merlin grinned impishly, "Probably not, after all your manners do leave quite a bit to be desired." Then Merlin straightened himself up and gave a look of mock-awe, "Still, I should be grateful, and honored, there aren't many who can say they've received an apology from the prince of Camelot."

Arthur scowled, trust Merlin to make this even more difficult for him, Arthur raised a finger warningly and said, "one word to anyone, and I'll have you in the stocks from now until the day you die."

Merlin seemed to ponder this and said, "Well, at least I'd die knowing I'd ruined your reputation. That would be quite something."

Arthur snapped, "Shut up Merlin."

Merlin said, "Always sire."

As Merlin turned to leave Arthur called, "And Merlin."

Merlin turned again, now looking slightly annoyed, and obviously expecting yet another empty threat from Arthur, "Once this is all over I want to talk to you about the peasants in Camelot, and what can be done to help them more."

Merlin's eyebrows practically disappeared into his short hairline, but after a moment he smiled proudly at Arthur and nodded in an approving manner before saying, "Absolutely sire, it would be my pleasure."

Arthur said, "Well, what are you waiting for? We've got work to do tomorrow, get going."

Merlin continued to grin as he said, "Of course sire, see you in the morning."

Arthur said, "in the morning."

Merlin turned and left the room, as the door closed, Arthur found himself staring at it and feeling several lingering twinges of regret as he did so. Once again Arthur felt shameful for offering Merlin the food because he had wanted to taunt Merlin, and not because he wanted Merlin to have something to eat. Arthur also felt guilty for the times he and the other knights had purposely eaten everything brought along when they went hunting, or on a quest, or on patrol, because they had thought it was funny.

Arthur had often laughed with the others as they sent Merlin off to clean the plates, without allowing the other young man any food of his own, Arthur now saw how truly cruel that had been. Arthur also realized that he needed to do more to help his people, while he may not be as out of touch with the ordinary citizens of Camelot as his father was, this moment had taught Arthur there was much more he needed to learn. Despite Uther's constant declarations that nobles were the only worthy people in the world and everyone else was insignificant, Arthur knew that the true strength of a kingdom lay in its common people and not simply the noble class.

Arthur also realized that he had to become a truly great king he needed to start thinking more about his people and less about himself, Arthur had to start taking a page out of Morgana's book and do more to ensure he was serving all of his people in any way possible, and (he grimaced at the idea) Merlin was one of the few who could help him reach that goal. Of course, it wouldn't just be Merlin, Arthur could learn a lot from Gwen, and Gauis, and Morgana as well.

Arthur nodded as he starred at the door, yes, after he had made retributions for his grievous error in slaying the unicorn Arthur would start doing more to help the people. Arthur also made a silent promise that he would never let Merlin go without food again (even if he had to lighten up on the chores he assigned his manservant to do so). Despite the lateness of the hour, Arthur didn't feel like sleeping, so he did what he always did when he needed to think, Arthur turned his chair so that it faced the window and sat down starring out at the city of Camelot laid out before him.

As Arthur watched the people come and go among the streets he knew that he would never see them the same again. Like many nobles, Arthur had often walked past the poor he saw in the street without seeing them, but now he knew that he would never be able to simply ignore a hungry child. From now on whenever he saw a hungry child in the street, or a peasant standing in the cold Arthur would think of Merlin and he found that this was the way it_ should_ be, a king shouldn't see his subjects as a nameless group of huddled masses, but as people, with friends, and families, and needs like their own. Arthur nodded once again, yes, this entire experience had changed much for him, and he couldn't help feeling that if he managed to save Camelot from the dangers it was facing that change would be for the better for everyone (especially himself).

The end

a/n what do you think? I seem to have gotten a case of one-shot phobia, I'm going to try to update Family's journey by the week's end, I've had major writers block with that story for some reason) in the mean time please review.


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